Klever Birne

Brimming with ideas

The name ‘Klever Birne’ refers to an ideas competition launched by the city of Kleve in collaboration with the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. The first competition, held in 2023, generated plenty of creative ideas on the topic of sustainability. The jury received more than 20 applications and five winners were honoured

The next round of the call for ideas will start in May 2024 and anyone from Kleve and the surrounding area can take part. Already have a good idea in mind? Let your mind wander and join in!

Application requirements

You can apply if your idea meets the following criteria:

• It deals with at least one of the 17 sustainability goals
• It can be implemented in Kleve
• It is actively planned or has already been realized
• It will be further developed with the prize money

Citizens, private groups, students, educational institutions, public institutions (schools, kindergartens, libraries, etc.), companies, associations, start-ups and institutions that see themselves as shaping the future in terms of sustainability can apply.

Former award winners are excluded from participation.

Application procedure

You take part in the competition by completing and sending the entry form to transregint@hochschule-rhein-waal.de. Please also read the conditions of participation.

Application phase for the Klever Birne 2024: May 01, 2024 to June 30, 2024.

Evaluation criteria

Impact: Your idea makes a contribution to sustainable (social, ecological, economic) development and serves as a role model for others; it should be of great practical benefit in the selected SDG target area.

Feasibility: Your idea can be realistically implemented in everyday life in the city of Kleve. Realistic means that the idea can be implemented from your own resources and/or with the prize money from the ideas competition and the coaching.

Degree of innovation: Your idea is innovative and has not yet been implemented in Kleve.

Prizes

1st prize: €2,000 + coaching + certificate

2nd prize : €1,500 + coaching + certificate

3rd prize : €1,000 + coaching + certificate

Student prize : €1,000 + coaching + certificate

Audience prize: Pear tree + coaching + certificate

Aim of the sustainability award

The project partners City of Kleve and Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences are committed to the topic of sustainability as a form of ecological, social and economic action and announced a sustainability award in Kleve for the first time in 2023. The Klever Birne Sustainability Award is intended to raise awareness of sustainability goals at a global and local level. The aim is to develop new ideas for sustainable measures together with the people of Kleve.

A look back: That was the Klever Birne 2023

Winners of the Klever Birne 2023

After receiving the applications and a workshop on pitch and poster preparation, the award ceremony on ‘Make an impact Day’ was on the agenda. Ten selected applicants had the opportunity to present their ideas at a small trade fair and win the jury’s approval. Four ideas received prize money: the mobile climate café, the sustainable market hall in the former Margarine Union, the community garden at SOS-Klapheckenhof and the “Sustainable education in the field” school project at the primary school in Rindern. The Audience Award went to the biogas plant of Futurelab-Engineering U.G.

“All projects are winners for us because they make the region and the city of Kleve a better place to live,” said professor Peter Kisters, Vice President and Professor for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer at the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.

What now? The projects have entered the next phase. To ensure things don’t simply remain ideas and plans, the university is supporting the winners in the implementation of their projects. We’ll be sure to report on how things progress here.